Join us to explore 4 mobile industry predictions for 2019.
1- App store users will spend over $122B in 2019, double the global Box Office market.
In 2019, user spending in app stores globally will grow 5 times faster than the overall global economy. This trend will continue to reshape consumer mindsets and the priorities of large companies. This represents only a fraction of the overall growth in the mobile economy. Mobile industry revenue will grow in areas like in-app advertising and commerce apps (e.g., Uber, Starbucks, Amazon) outside the app store ecosystem.
Games will be a major part of app store revenue generation, as mobile gaming rapidly becomes the most popular form of gaming. China has the largest app store gaming user base; however, we expect a slight slowdown in 2019 due to gaming license restrictions in China. Aside from gaming growth, app subscriptions will grow 2x. However, approximately 75% of total user spending will be on games. Android devices will account for the highest number of app installs. Alongside increased app installs, time spent in apps will also increase in emerging markets like Indonesia, where users spend over 4 hours daily on average.
2- Mobile games will account for 60% of the gaming market share.
In 2018, we saw the mobile gaming experience evolve. Fortnite and PUBG, coupled with advancements in smartphone capabilities, showcased multiplayer gaming engines previously only achievable on PC/Mac and consoles. The most significant advancement in mobile technology was the emergence of cross-platform games. As a result, games will be less platform-dependent in 2019, with increased interconnectivity between games. For many publishers, mobile offers scale and growth that makes this strategy particularly compelling. Conversely, we expect to see the rise of incredibly simple games with straightforward gameplay to capture a large segment of the market that may not traditionally identify as "gamers." Since these games have relatively low revenue per active user, developers will need to compensate for reduced revenue by releasing a high volume of simple yet engaging titles. These two ends of the spectrum—casual and professional games—will drive mobile gaming growth in 2019.
Mobile gamers will capture 60% of market share across all gaming platforms, including PC/Mac, consoles, and mobile. Advancements in mobile multiplayer game mechanics and cross-platform gameplay will likely gain significant traction among users. The advent of 5G internet speeds, coupled with improved battery life, will also contribute to mobile gaming progress.
3) In 2019, 10 minutes of every hour of media consumption will be mobile video.
On average, people consume over 7.5 hours of media—reading, listening, watching, or sharing content—daily. In 2019, 10 minutes of every hour of media content—TV and internet—will be mobile video. Total time spent in video streaming apps per device has increased by 110% from 2016 to 2019. Global user adoption of entertainment apps will grow by 520%, largely driven by video streaming subscriptions. Short-form video apps will continue to be popular. YouTube alone is the most popular app in the US. Furthermore, part of this growth will be fueled by the rise of social video apps like TikTok and the prominence of short-form video on social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat.
Disney will launch its new video streaming services in 2019: Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ (embedded in the ESPN app), and ABC. With these various platforms, each user will want to create their own unique content. As a result, users will be forced into fragmented subscriptions across various systems. With increased competition, consolidation of these spaces through partnerships and content aggregation is expected over time. We have already seen studios partner with video streaming services—e.g., Paramount with Netflix and A24 with Apple—and we expect that to continue in 2019.
4- In 2019, 60% of apps will monetize via in-app advertising.
The mobile market accounts for the largest share of advertising spending and is the main driver of digital ad spending growth. In 2018, 62% of digital ad spend, totaling $155 billion, was mobile advertising—a 50% increase from 2017. In the US, mobile ad spending surpasses TV ad spending. We expect mobile advertising to account for a significant portion of digital ad revenue in 2019. In 2019, 60% of apps will monetize via in-app advertising. This will intensify competition amongst advertisers. We’ve already seen maturity in advertising strategies for apps using in-app advertising as part of User Acquisition strategies.
Given the ever-increasing use of mobile devices, mobile advertising is expected to take the largest share of advertising budgets.
